1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



209 



wires in the standard-depth frames; but the 

 wires were not imbedded. The sheets sim- 

 ply hang between the wires, two of the 

 wires on each side alternating with those 

 on the other side. If the frames are wired 

 right, and the hives stand level, the imbed- 

 ding is not necessary, as it weakens the 

 foundation so that it breaks loose at the 

 wires. I have tried thin super foundation 

 in full sheets in this way, and it can be suc- 

 cessfully used in the weaker colonies, or by 

 placing it between built-out combs. Swarms 

 can not be hived on such frames, as the 

 foundation tears loose. It works well, how- 

 ever, when building up small nuclei. 



The cost of the home-made foundation 

 running twelve sheets to the pound was the 

 same as the manufactured grade of ten 

 sheets at 50 cents per pound. Comparing 

 the twelve-sheet grade with medium brood 

 foundation, both wired, the saving would be 

 increased to 20 cents per hive-body or $20 

 for every hundred in favor of the lighter 

 grade. Where several hundred bodies and 

 supers have to be filled with foundation 

 every year this is quite an item. 



WHAT HIVE SHALL FARMERS USE? 



"Good morning, Mr. Doolittle." 

 "Good morning, Mr. —what's the name?" 

 "My name is John Jones— only a farmer, 

 and expect to be such all my life. But I am 

 interested in bees just now, and my neigh- 

 bor Brown told me I'd better come over and 

 see you regarding the best hive for the farm- 

 er who wishes to keep a few colonies of bees 

 for honey for his own use, and perhaps a lit- 

 tle to sell, should the bees do well." 



" Which will be the best hive for you will 

 depend very much upon how you intend to 

 keep the bees, and how much time you will 

 be willing to devote to them. If you intend 

 to hive swarms only when they issue, and 

 put on the surplus boxes when the white 

 clover commences to bloom, as is the case 

 with the majority of farmers who keep bees. 



Faying no attention to them otherwise, then 

 should say some simple box hive, something 

 after the fashion of the old Miner hive, would 

 be as good as any thing for you. ' ' 



"That may be right; but what was there 

 about the Miner hive superior to any old box 

 or log, such as my father used when I was 

 a boy?" 



"The reason for preferring the Miner 

 form of the box hive is, that all the other 

 box hives or log gums of the past allowed 

 the bees to build their combs in a haphazard 



way, while Mr. Miner provided for straight 

 combs by the use of strips running across 

 the top of the hive every one and one-half 

 inches, the same having a sharp edge on the 

 under side, on which the bees would start 

 their combs. With such straight combs in 

 your hives, your bees will bring a dollar or 

 so more per colony, should you ever wish to 

 sell them, than they would were the combs 

 in your hives of the haphazard, crooked kind, 

 as such combs are very easily transferred to 

 other hives by the man who would be most 

 likely to buy bees." 



' * I see. That would be quite a scheme, 

 and I am glad I asked about the matter. 

 But I expect to devote considerable time to 

 the bees, or as much as I can spare from 

 my other farm work." 



' * If you are willing to give the bees the 

 time they require, which is far less to each 

 colony, taking the whole of the year through, 

 than you give to one of your horses or cows, 

 then I would say that nothing short of a 

 good movable- frame hive would be good 

 enough for you. ' ' 



"Well, I want the best, and that is the 

 reason I came over to see you. I have just 

 commenced to take Gleanings, and it has 

 set me crazy over the bees— at least, that is 

 what my wife tells folks; and seeing you 

 were answering questions in Gleanings had 

 more to do with my coming over to see you 

 than my neighbor's advice. Which is the 

 best frame hive ? " 



"Well, that is a hard question; for, very 

 naturally, every man thinks the one he is 

 using is the best. And, strange to say, near- 

 ly every beginner thinks he can getup a hive 

 just a little better than others are using, so 

 goes at it with a relish and a zest worthy of 

 a locomotive inventor, till he finds, after us- 

 ing, that the most of the older frame hives 

 work better than his ' new idea, ' which he 

 really thought was going to revolutionize 

 the world." 



' ' I may be one of those fellows later on, 

 but just now I wish to know which is the 

 best of the older frame hives, so that I may 

 have what I need ready for the opening sea- 

 son of 19U6. What shall I take?" 



"All things considered, especially if you 

 can winter your bees in a cellar, there is 

 probably nothing better for you than the 

 regular Langstroth hive. The word ' Lang- 

 stroth' would properly apply to all good 

 hives having movable frames, as such mov- 

 able frames come under Mr. Langstroth's 

 invention; but there is only one hive that 

 bears his name, and that is what I call the 

 regular one." 



"How many frames would you use— eight 

 or ten?" 



' ' I would prefer the ten- frame hive, and 

 especially for the farmer bee-keeper, as such 

 hive is liable to have sufficient stores in it 

 after a poor season so that the bees will 

 come through all right in the spring; while 

 with the eight-frame hive they are quite li- 

 able to starve unless they are looked after 

 and fed." 



' ' Then bees are liable to starve after a 



